Welt insole and fibrous sewing rib therefor



Feb. 18, 1947. w. c. WRIGHT 2,415,982

WELT INSOLE AND FIBROUS SEWING RIB THEREFOR Original Filed Dec. 6, 1941 Patented Feb. 18, 1947 WELT INSOLE AND FIBROUS SEWING an; 'rnnnnron Wallace 0. Wright, Brcokfield, N. H., assignor to Wright-Batcheider Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Original application December 6, 1541, Serial No.

Divided and this application December 27, 1944, Serial No. 569,952

1 Claim. 1

My present invention is an improvement in welt insoles for use in the manufactureof boots and shoes, and more particularly relates to a flexible sewing rib structure of fibrous moldable material, and is a divisional application of my prior and copending application Ser. No. 421,974, filed December 6, 1941 now Patent No. 2,370,829.

My present invention is directed primarily to a construction of a fibrous material built up from an inexpensive and economical mass of cotton, woolen, or other waste fibre, which may be built into a plurality of layers, with the fibers intermingled or interlaced, treated with a liquid binder, andmolded into the form of an upstanding sewing rib and horizontal attaching flange, thus being capable of use as a sewing rib with stitchretaining strength and sufficient rigidity for the lasting and sewing operations to which a welt insole is subjected, while also maintaining a pliable yielding construction.

I have discovered that by properly preparing such waste fiber, and then treating the same with a strengthening binding, preserving, and resilient 2 The sheet material iscut into strips, and such strips can be molded into T-form by feeding the same thru forming rolls so that the mass of flbers are still further compressed into an upstanding rib and horizontal attaching flange suitable for attachment, preferably, by adhesive to the marginal portion of an insole blank. The sewing rib, with its integral attaching flange, may have the flange pinked or notched throughout its length to facilitate attachment to the varying contour of the insole edge portion particularly around the toe and shank.

By treating and molding the strips of fibrous materials, as above briefly outlined, while the same is still plastic, I secure a sewing rib with great strength both for stitch-retaining and with a sufficient mass and rigidity to stand the lasting, stapling, and welt inseam-sewing operations liquid or solution that the fibrous material can be molded by running the same in appropriate strips thru suitable rolls, forming the fibers into an upstanding rib and horizontal flange portion, which is ideally suitable for attachment by adhesive to the marginal portion of a flat insole blank, and thus enables a permanently flexible sewing rib structure in a welt shoe to be made.

' In carrying out my invention, I prefer to employ any standard felting processes, using a mass of any suitable fibrous material or mixture of the same, such as the waste products of wool, cotton, rayon, linen or the like. Some wood pulp fiber might even be employed. This material is then built up in successive masses or layers, mixed or superimposed uponeach other, preferably in layers applied crosswise, diagonally, or on the bias to effect better interlacing of the fibers until a suitable thickness, of for example one-eighth of an inch, is obtained.

Thereupon, these masses of fibers, preferably in the form of sheet material, are treated in one, or more, binding and preserving resilient solutions, such for example as liquid latex dispersed in water or other commercial forms.

A plurality of such treatments may be effected, and a series of successive compressing rolls may be utilized to condense, thicken, and solidify the fibers of the several superimposed layers during such liquid treatments, or afterward, or both during, and afterward, as well as during the riband flange-molding operations, if desired.

during the manufacture of shoes having such a fibrous sewing rib attached to the insole.

The fibrous material itself on the attaching flange presents an ideal surface for being adhesively secured to the surface of the insole blank. Such a blank can be of leather or other material, or might be of the same fibrous material as the sewing rib structure just described. The binding, preserving, and strengthening liquid treatment also maintains and preserves a uniform pliability and resiliency in the rib and flange, thus insuring a soft, yielding, compressible but strong sewing rib between the insole and outsole in a welt shoe.

Such pliability is most important and vital in the manufacture of flexible footwear, which is highly desirable in this particular art.

My novel fibrous sewing rib and the welt insole made therewith eliminates all danger of forming ribs, channels, or guttering on the insole during wear, and the yielding and compressibility gives a cushioning effect around the margin of the shoe structure, which is a most desirable quality. The economy of material, ease of manufacture, and resultant desirable insole made by my invention insures an initially and permanently flexible shoe structure, the sewing rib being of great strength, eliminating the necessity of Gemming, reinforcing by canvas strips, or the like, as is customary, and producing also a 'rib structure which can be readily out during the inseam-trimming operation after the upper and insole are lasted.

Various. methods of preparing such fibrous material may be utilized but a suitable and preferred method has been above briefly outlined,

and will be shown in the drawing and further described.

Referring to the drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention and. the method of making same:

Fig. 1 is a plan view illustrating in diagrammatic and fragmentary manner a plurality of interlaced layers of fibrous material formed into a sheet;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the sheet material of Fig. '1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the treatment of the sheet material with a liquid binder and the successive rolling or compacting of the material into a predetermined thickness;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view partly in crosssection showing on an enlarged scale the molding of the strip of the treated fibrous layer into a sewing'rib form with an upstanding portion and a horizontal attaching flange;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in perspective on I an enlarged scale of the complete rib pinked and ready for attachment to the insole blank, and

Fig. 6 is a plan view illustrating the attachment of the fiber rib to the marginal portion of the. insole blank to make a welt insole therefrom.

As shown in the drawing, a plurality of layers of fibrous material I, 2, 3, and 4 are illustrated 4 dotted lines 26-28. Fig. 1, each strip containing a sufllcient mass of material to be formed into the rib and flange structure. Any suitable method may be utilized for this latter step. A pair of rolls 30 and 3| spaced appropriately and with one roll 30 having a groove 33 is shown in which the mass of the strip is forced and molded to form an upstanding sewing rib 35 and its horizontal attaching flange 36, the fibrous material readily flowing and working into this contour as the strip of treated and elastic material is forced into and thru the rolls 30 and 3|. A series of such rolls may be utilized if desired, and a further compacting and solidifying or compression of the mass of the fibrous material, as indicated at 40, is effected.

The flange 36 may extend at one side of the rib 35 or may extend at both sides, preferably the with the end portions of the layers 2, 3, and l broken away to show the respective underneath layer, which layers may be built up into any plurality desired to give the thickness and mass of interlaced fibrous material for the particular size and dimensions of the sewing rib desired.

Preferably, and as illustrated in Fig. 1, certain intermediate layers such as 2 and 3 may be led at an angle in building up the sheet so as to give a bias interlacing in the fibers of successive layers. I contemplate the building of such a fibrous sheet of, for example, from four or more layers, after which the sheet is subjected to a vibrating or agitating operation, which will still further interlock the fibers into a wide sheet or strip III, which sheet is thereupon led thru, one or more liquid treating baths, as indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 3, the same comprising suitable receptacles ii and 12- of appropriate width to accommodate the width of the material I0 being led therethru, and filled with a suitable solution of liquid I5.

I find that latex, or its equivalent, is a suitable liquid for this purpose as it acts as abinder for the fibers and, furthermore, gives proper stifiness while maintaining the resiliency of the fibrous structure and, hence, the compressibility, while also preservingthe fibers in its rubberlike coating.

The strip in is led into and out from the liquid i5 thru a series of idlers l6, l1, l8, and IS in each receptacle and between compacting and condensing pairs of rolls 2020, and thence thru successive compressing sets of rolls ill-2i, 22-22, 23-23, which sets or pairs of rolls are spaced sufficiently to permit appropriate drying therebetween and to force and condense the mass of the material from its original thickness, as shown at Hi, to the left of Fig. 3, to the desired state as shown at 25 to the right of Fig. 3.

Thereupon, the sheet material is divided lengthwise into suitable strips as indicated in latter, as indicated at Fig. 5, whereupon either or both extending flange portions are-preferably cut or pinked, as indicated at II. The fibrous rib thus formed is then cut into suitable lengths and applied to the marginal edge portion of the insole blank 44 around the shank, forepart, and toe, the contacting surfaces of either the flange 36 or of the insole 44, or both, being coated with adhesive for this purpose.

It will be appreciated that by utilizing quantitles of varying types of fibrous materials, mainly waste fibers, but preferably with some wool or some cotton to give stitch-retaining strength and suflicient stillness to Withstand lasting and inseam stitching during shoe manufacture, I have provided an extremely economical, strong, durable, and permanently flexible sewing rib, which, because of its structure, pliability, stiffness, and latex treatment will produce an initially flexible shoe structure. Furthermore, the fibrous surface of the flange is an ideal material for adhesively uniting the same and its integral rib to the insole blank 44 with suflicient strength to eliminate the necessity of gemming or the like reinforcing, although, if desired, such reinforcing could be applied in making mens heavy footwear.

I claim:

As a new article of manufacture, a, welt insole of the kind described, comprising an insole blank REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,891,027 Ricter Dec. 13, 1932 2,069,864 Valentine Feb. 9, 1937 2,070,314 Poole Feb. 9, 1937 2,206,715 De Vito et a1 July 2, 1940 

